My Chloe
by Coffeeskater
Summary: Max returns from the alternate time line, emotionally vulnerable and distraught, she runs to Chloe, desperate to see HER Chloe, the punk with the blue hair and a constant scowl, the one she'd kissed and the one that held her.


Her head hurt like hell and she felt like she was about to puke. Standing shakily Max looked up. She didn't instantly recognize where she was, her whole brain was so scrambled. Coughing and rubbing her eyes, the fog in her brain seemed to clear a bit, she knew where she was. She was a few blocks from Chloe's house. Recognizing where she was her heart leapt in her throat.

Forcing herself to move she started off towards Chloe's house at a slow jog. Her nose began to bleed but she refused to stop to take care of it. Blood dripped all down her face and stained the white shirt she was wearing. She stumbled more than once, sometimes barely able to keep herself on her feet. She reached Chloe's house and paused at the front door. Heart hammering and blood dripping all down her face she knew she looked like a mess, but she needed to see Chloe. Her Chloe, the one with blue hair, the one who'd told her she was never leaving her, she needed to see her so badly she reached up and knocked, praying that it was her Chloe who answered the door. Otherwise she'd have some serious explaining to do.

The door swung open and Max stopped breathing. Staring at her in concern was Chloe, wearing a flannel and shorts, rubbing her eyes and flicking blue hair out of her eyes. When she registered Max staring at her, a look of agony on her face, blood gushing down her face, she no longer felt sleepy but wide awake.

"Max?" Max didn't move, couldn't breathe. It felt like time was frozen and moving too fast all at the same time. Chloe called her name again and reached out to her, calloused fingertip sliding along her forearm.

Max promptly burst into tears, sobbing loudly and launching herself at Chloe, grabbing her in a tight hug and crushing her, clinging to her as she sobbed. Chloe's brain caught up and she hugged Max back, squeezing her just as tightly. Max was crying so hard she could barely breathe, face pressed to her chest, tears and blood staining Chloes shirt, (not that Chloe cared at all.)

"Max? Max what happened? What's wrong?" Max simply shook her head, unable to speak. She simply shifted, pressing her face into the crook of her neck and continued to cry. Chloe stared down at the girl in her arms and felt her shiver violently. Max was about as likely to move as she was to magically stop crying. Kissing the top of her head Chloe swiftly bent and scooped Max up, holding her to her chest in a bridal carry.

Max barely seemed to notice, the only indication that she'd felt Chloe pick her up were her fists clenching in her bloody shirt. Kicking the door shut Chloe started up the stairs to her room, intent upon getting Max into her bed and under the covers to stop her shivering.

She took the stairs slowly, making sure not to jostle Max too much. Shouldering her bedroom door open then kicking it shut again she knelt down on her bed, setting Max down. The brunette whimpered and clung to her still, refusing to let go. "Max your killing me, come on, let go, I'm just going to get something for your face okay? I'll be right back." Max whimpered and shook her head, completely unwilling to let go. Chloe made a noise of frustration. She didn't want to leave Max but she was still bleeding and her face was a mess.

Max whimpered her name and her voice was so fragile, so broken. Chloe felt her heart twist in her chest. Carefully stroking brown hair from her face Chloe bit her lip. "Okay okay, come on, put your arms around my neck." Max did as she was asked and Chloe lifted her again.

Working the door to her room open again was a bit of a challenge with Max in her arms but Chloe managed it. Taking her to the bathroom she set Max down on the edge of her tub. Max clung to her still and Chloe rubbed her back. She didn't know what had shaken Max up this badly or why she was crying so hard. She vowed to find out once the girl was in a better state of mind. Carefully she pulled Max's arms from around her neck. She knelt down and gently cupped Max's cheek, encouraging her to look at her. "You need to let go okay, I'll be right here, you'll be able to see me, I promise I'm not going anywhere, you just need to let go so I can help you get cleaned up okay?" Max slowly nodded, letting her arms drop to her sides.

Chloe smiled, it was weak but it didn't matter, Max managed to twitch her lips up for the briefest second in response. Chloe stood and grabbed a wash cloth and started the hot water. She had no idea how she was so calm, Max had literally shown up at her door step, bloody and pale, unable to explain what had made her so upset. Letting out a breath slowly Chloe ran the wash cloth under the now warm water. It didn't matter right now. All that mattered was looking after Max and making sure she wasn't hurt too badly. Wringing the cloth out she knelt in front of Max again and cupped her cheek.

Max stared at her with glassy red rimmed eyes, her cries having shifted from loud painful sobs to silent tears and hiccups. Tenderly Chloe began to clean the blood from her face, first cleaning her neck and chin. It was startling how much Max had managed to bleed, she was so small and there was just so much blood. Softly rubbing the cloth across her lips she tried not to think about the kiss they'd shared, Kissing Max was the last thing she should be thinking about. Or maybe it was exactly what Max needed. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Chloe forced herself to stop thinking about it and instead kept cleaning up her friend.

Once the blood was all cleaned up she paused. Max was still crying so it seemed pointless to clean her cheeks of the tear tracks if she was just going to make more. Shrugging to herself internally Chloe folded the cloth and began to gently wipe her cheeks clean as well. Max hiccupped and her hands shot out to clutch at Chloe almost like it was instinct. With her free hand Chloe gently disentangled Max's fingers from her shirt and laced their fingers together instead. Max squeezed hard and Chloe let her, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles.

With Max's face clean she chucked the bloody cloth into the sink to deal with later. Standing she pulled Max to her feet. Leading her by the hand back to her room she pulled her onto the bed and pulled to covers up around them. Max immediately snuggled up against her and Chloe returned the embrace.

It was almost an hour until Max stopped crying, she'd cried herself out and now she was dozing on Chloe, head on her chest, ear pressed firmly over her heart to heat each and every beat. Chloe pet through tangled brown hair as she slept. She didn't know what to do. She'd been calm when Max needed her but now that she was asleep Chloe didn't know what to do. Max had been so messed up, it had scared her so bad, seeing Max like that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Max twitching and whimpering her name in her sleep. Looking down at her face she realized it was twisted in pain. Max whimpered her name again and Chloe reached down, shaking her awake.

"Max. Max, wake up it's just a bad dream." Max woke with a jolt and a loud cry of her name. Chloe grabbed her hand and cupped her cheek making her meet her eyes. "Hey, hey! I'm right here! Calm down!" Max met her eyes and she dropped down, clinging to Chloe once more. Chloe held her tightly and rubbed her back. "It's okay now it can't hurt you now." Max shook her head and pulled away carefully. "No Chloe..." Max trailed off and after some gentle encouragement she tucked herself into Chloe side and began to tell Chloe about the alternate time line, how she'd saved William and how Chloe had become paraplegic, how she saw three dead beached whales, how she'd been so scared and how she felt the crushing guilt, blaming herself for Chloe's accident.

Chloe listened intently as Max talked, her voice breaking and wavering every so often. She listened as Max talked, sounding more and more distressed. Eventually she had to stop talking and Chloe pulled her closer, hushing her gently. It was hard to digest everything that Max had said, she'd traveled back in time, to five years ago and saved her dad's life, only to change her mind. She had so many questions bit she pushed to the back of her mind, instead focusing on Max. Her body shook like she was going to cry again and Chloe rolled her onto her back, meeting her eyes.

"Listen to me, Max, I'm right here, I'm here and I'm perfectly okay, we'll figure this out later okay, but for right now just focus on me okay, I'm right here and I can move all my limbs and we're both okay." Max hiccupped and sniffled but nodded. She bit her lip and looked like she wanted to say something.

"Can I… Can I kiss you again?" Max asked in the softest most vulnerable voice Chloe had ever heard. Chloe felt her heart jump in her chest. Nodding carefully Max bit her lip again and met her eyes briefly before Yanking Chloe to her and smashing a kiss to her mouth. Chloe kissed back, carefully stroking Max's cheek.

They broke apart and Max took a breath before Chloe kissed her again. They lost themselves in each other as they kept kissing, Chloe kissing Max more tenderly than the brunette though possible. There was a lot to talk about but for now it was ignored as Max took comfort In Chloe's presence, her Chloe.


End file.
